Last week, I was informed by my marketing department that I needed to drop everything and get on a plane to fulfill another founder-type duty - in this case, hosting a Jigsaw- sponsored “Business at the Speed of Trust” seminar in Seattle. At first I was totally annoyed for a number of reasons:
1) My wife hates surprises, particularly ones that involve me leaving suddenly
2) It’s the other founder of Jigsaw that loves reading trendy business books and trying to implement changes based on his learnings.
3) My first job was selling at a similar business celebrity seminar and I was ready for stressed out handlers trying to contain a self absorbed, plastic tyrant snake.
4) The speaker is a second generation motivational guy- his father is the “7 Habits” guy.
5) Sitting in a room with 150 people for 3 hours without talking is impossible for me.
6) I go to Seattle once a month anyway for large deals that I am working on and let’s just say the “Jigsaw Co-Founder is here” novelty has worn off.
7) I was right in the middle of negotiating the sale of my house- which only exacerbated point number 1.
Anyway, despite my sarcastic vein (exoskeleton) I am a company guy, so I emailed the Franklin Covey contact and figured out what was required. I needed to present a small “non-product pitch!” talk about how trust was critical to Jigsaw, introduce Stephen M. R. Covey (writer and chief evangelist of “The Speed of Trust”), moderate a lunch discussion and generally “work the session” by locating and talking up selected prospects and customers of Jigsaw- not an experience for my Bucket List, but it’s not going to kill me either. I had read (skimmed) and discussed the book for one of Jigsaw’s (supposed-to- be-quarterly-but-not-so-much-anymore) management training sessions, so I figured I could paint Homer Simpson’s awake eyes on my eyelids and snooze through the day.
I’m happy to report that I was completely wrong about the seminar and the speaker. And embarrassingly enough, I have been quoting the book and actually put some of the tenets to work in closing on my house.
First of all, Stephen M. R. Covey is the real deal. Not only is he a former CEO, but he backs up all his anecdotes with metrics, case studies and video footage. In person (“offstage”) he was warm, remembers your name and company, asks questions and actually listens to your answers. He generally shows all the traits of a regular person who isn’t completely blinded by his own BS. For someone that that presents 150 days a year, in 30 countries in the last 2 years to heads of state and captains of industry, he amazed me with his patience and willingness to engage in earnest discussions with everyday business people. This much positive reinforcement would have devolved me into a drug addled shut- in that delivered robot-like performances through the popemobile. But not Mr. Covey. He is a guy that obviously believes in his "trust" message and actually lives his life according to the principles of the book.
To try and stuff a synopsis into 2 paragraphs won’t do the book or the seminar justice (Google it if I have piqued your interest). Instead I’ll list a few cryptic statements or observations that you can truly appreciate once you become a believer that “Nothing is as fast as the speed of trust.”
1) Best example in practice is the coffee and doughnut vendor that lets his customers make their own change - and doubles his business overnight.
2) “Talk straight” is the first behavior that establishes trust. True-dat!
3) Lawyers and venture capitalists are speed bumps on the trust highway.
4) The times we are living in now (credit default swaps, steroids, sex scandals, bank failures, nuclear stand offs) desperately require a good dose of Covey’s principles.
5) Sales guys the world over should read this book. Or look at the pictures.
6) With the vast amount of information available on the internet, it is the customers that are doing the most lying in corporate America now.
7) Bellevue, WA is a little slice of yuppie paradise.
